 Darding now. Hey everybody, I am Dr. Kiki and I'm here at the Portland Maker Fair. Welcome once again, we're podcasting all day today at the Maker Fair and right now I'm joined by Michael from CMDC from Washington State University. Can you tell me what you're doing here at the fair today? So what we're doing is we're showcasing some of the student projects. We have two small computer screens where we have animation projects. One of the screens has public service announcements that some of the students have done where they take some kind of issue within Clark County and they address it through their animation. Then we have another screen where we have 3D animation where the students get to showcase some of the animations that they've done within the program. Some of them are students who were students a while ago, some of them are students who've done them recently including myself and some of the other students that are here. And then we have a VR set where we have, as you can see, a pretty long line of students. Yeah, if I could pick up my computer and turn it around to show everybody, we're just gonna have to let you know it's like a radio show description right now. There is a very long line of people lined up to play with the Oculus and get inside of a virtual world. So what are the virtual setups that you've got for people over there? Well for this it's pretty basic. It's kind of an informational tour of down at the waterfront, something that they did. They wanted it redone, they wanted to kind of redo it virtually so people could see it and kind of have a robot tour guide take them through and get some information about the area. Okay. And what that is is for every senior within the program, you have to take a class which is called the senior seminar. And in that class the head of the department puts you in a group and within your group you're assigned to some company that she goes out and finds the needs of project. And that company comes in and they basically work with her on what kind of project they want done. And her students, whatever group they're in, they work together to propose how they're gonna do that project. And either the company will accept that project or ask for the proposal to be revised. Right. And once it's accepted, the students will then work on that project, complete that project and that company will use the project. Right. So the company uses it but then it's also a part of the student's portfolio of things that they've created from start to finish. Yes. Yeah. And is it usually, I mean is it, does it run the gamut depending on the student and the needs from 2D animation, 3D animation? Is it just whatever is needed? Well the great thing about our program is we don't just do animation. I mean I know that's what you see today. Yeah, today it's all showcasing. But we do everything. We've got web development. So you're coding websites. You've got people who design websites. You've got people who do social media marketing. You've got people who do audio editing, video editing. We've got a gaming certificate. So we've got so much different stuff they can do. Every semester what she does is she goes through the list of all the students who are graduating. And she finds the students who would fit a project best together. She goes out and she finds a project that would fit those students. And she takes a set, she, all the students together get in different groups. And so usually it's a bunch of different companies. So she'll have like five different groups, each group working with their own separate company. And then. And approaching all the different aspects of the project. So she'll have like one team that's a coding team. And they'll code, they'll have some company that needs a website code. Now code that website form. Maybe they have somebody that needs something designed. So they'll have the design team. Maybe they have a company that needs some promotional help. So they have a social media marketing team coming and help them. Maybe it'll be animation. Maybe they need somebody that need a group of people to do some video editing. It just all depends on who's graduating and what company she can find to accommodate those students. Right. So how did you find out about the program? I did my first two years of college. I got my A at Clark. Then I transferred to WSU. And as I was actually looking through the list of what to do elect this, I saw DTC. I had no clue what DTC is. I don't think many people know what DTC is. It's an acronym. Yes, it's just letters. Yeah, and it stands for digital technology in college. Okay. And when I found it, I was interested and I found out that animation was part of it. And I love fiction. When I was an English major, that's what I wanted to do was write fiction. So I thought, well, maybe if I learn some animation, that'll help widen my area of focus. And my first semester, I started doing animation, and I just fell in love with the process. I knew immediately I didn't want to write anymore. I want to do animation. Wow. So ever since then, I've gone on and I mean, they have a great staff. I had no experience in animating or anything digital whatsoever. I was an English. Could you already draw though? Were you? No, so okay, because that's what I am like, I grew up going, okay, I'm just, I don't know, I can't draw. So it doesn't matter. I could get into animation. And yeah, if you want to have a great staff to come, like I said, I couldn't do anything digital. I'm, you know, I can get on a computer and play around and surf the web or whatever. But I had no skills digital whatsoever. And here I am two years later, I'm getting ready to graduate. Nice. So I mean, yeah, what so as you're graduating, what are you looking forward to trying to do? Are you going to try and find a job at a design company? Or is there do you have a particular trajectory that you're looking at? I want to do special effects for fiction. So like special effects for like cartoons and animation. That's like my dream. But I mean, I'm gonna have to work my way up. So I'll go out, I'll find a local company that I can get a job and I'll kind of work my way from there, continue to build my skills and kind of go where that takes me. That's awesome. And as somebody who's finishing the program and starting to embark on the next step of your life. What kind of advice would you give to people who are, you know, potentially looking at a program like this one? Find something you love to do. One thing I learned about college is the most important thing we always do what's the best job that you can make the most money. That doesn't really mean as much as you think finding something you just love to do that you can wake up every morning and you can't wait to do your work. That's how I knew I was in the right place. Right. And I mean, I I flip fly back and forth through so many things. I took a bunch of classes I didn't need. I've have been in college for five years. Right. But those those classes you didn't need, they're just giving you extra stuff. Yeah, it just filled your brain a little bit with more with awesome information. Well, that was all part of me finding what I wanted to do. That was all part of me getting led to where I need to be now. Great. And can you recommend, you know, for anybody coming by the Maker Faire, anything they absolutely have to see the VR, as you can see, the line is so long. I know you're gonna have to wait in line, everybody. This is our first real VR project. And it's kind of getting giving you a preview of what's to come. I mean, we've gotten so much more. We're getting ready to work on a VR project this semester for the seniors, which I'm in involved in. And it's going to be great. I love this. Well, thank you so much for telling me about what you're doing here and for the work that you're doing and good luck. Thank you so much. You're welcome. It's nice to be on your show. Yeah, I've been talking with you. You too. Thank you. All right, everybody. This is Dr. Kiki. We're at the Portland Maker Faire. And if you're here in Portland, stop by. Say hi. Let's do a podcast. There's VR right next to me. It's really awesome. We'll see you later. Stay tuned for more.